Canadian Books!!!

No not the latest Giller Short List…and impressive bunch for sure…but OTHER good Canadian reads.

AGES ago I got an email from the gorgeous lady who runs Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin’ Blog. She had started a great site called The Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin’ Book Review. Through this site she has been receiving and sharing out a huge variety of books for her blogging friends to read and review.

She had gotten an email from a publisher regarding a novel he thought she might be interested in despite it not QUITE fitting the bill. Being that the book was published in Canada and set in Yellowknife, she thought I would be interested.

While I do real a lot of Sci Fi and Fantasy, my tastes are quite varied and anything a bit quirky will usually grab my attention.

This book did.

It was a lot of fun to read.

I am sad to say that I have not visited that part of the world, and instead have cowered in my lower mainland micro climate. The author, Steve Zipp, has done an amazing job of bringing to life the weather, the environment and the characters you may or may not meet on your trip there.

I don’t know if you have read any of Kate Atkinson, but the styles are quite similar…..and very engaging. He introduces us to life in the north. Life in a boom town. Life filled with snow cats, hunters, and mysterious noises from underground.

The publisher describes the book thusly -

The time is 1998. The millennium looms. Yellowknife, capital of one-third of Canada and home to beasts and bureaucrats, is about to become a major player in the world diamond market.

Stir in a little crime, a dash of sex, some hunting and fishing, not to mention hockey, videogames, lost explorers, crazed biologists, and spectacular scenery.

The perfect setting for mystery and adventure.

We are introduced to Yellowknife through the eyes of Danny. Danny is a bit of a lost soul. A drifter. But a drifter with enough gut instinct in him to keep him alive and fed…even if it is just dog food. He has been driving for a while…..with no real direction or destination in mind. He ends up heading north as far as his beater will take him or until a bison takes offense to his mode of transport.

Danny’s survival instincts are put to the test in Yellowknife. Even when he finds warm digs through the offer of house sitting. Things are never ‘normal.’ He is constantly confronted with strange people, sights and sounds.

The other main character is Nora, a government hired biologist. She works with a bunch of other ’specialists’ who spend a bit too much time isolated in the wilderness instead of sharpening their social or hygiene skills. Politics are beginning to trickle down to their little department and she finds her job on the line. The impact of this takes a while to sink in for her as she is planning her nuptials with her mosquito loving fiance. Until he disappears.

There are many mysteries in this book. Zipp does his best to tie them all together. This is a world of conspiracy, big money and magic. This is the north.

I do have to admit that I felt a bit let down at the end. I felt that I wasn’t given quite ENOUGH answers to so many tantalizing questions out there. He carried me along throughout the book and I guess I still needed a bit more closure than he was willing to give.

I do highly recommend the book. It was a lot of fun. He is an engaging writer and skilled at crafting interesting characters.

I thank the publisher and SQT for the chance to read the book.